Pakistan imposes EID blockade as COVID cases rise Coronavirus pandemic News

On Saturday, Pakistan began a nine-day shutdown to affect travel and tourism sites in a bid to prevent a rise in Muslim holidays in Eid al-Fitr in the COVID-19 cases.

Already struggling with a third wave of infections and getting more and more nervous crisis across the Indian border, the government has imposed the harshest restrictions since a month-long shutdown in April last year.

“From today, all businesses across the country will be closed. People will not be able to enter the markets to shop for Eid, ”Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder reported from Islamabad’s capital.

Hyder said the Pakistani government is afraid that it will not be able to cope with the lack of ventilators and oxygen if it “sees the situation in India.”

Asad Umar, the planning minister in charge of directing Pakistan’s pandemic response, said Pakistan is in a “dangerous situation”.

“These measures have necessitated a very dangerous situation in the region with the spread of virulent mutations in the virus,” Umar said on Twitter, adding that the country needed to “unite”.

The need to be careful is clear. The risk is greater than ever and knocking on doors. We managed to unite the country in response and once again get what we got in the first wave. That’s why we received global praise. We will do the inshallah again, together

– Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) May 8, 2021

Eid, at the end of Muslim holy month of Ramadan, usually sees a crowded movement of people in the country and tourist spots full of Pakistanis.

Last year the country had a boom in the weeks following the celebrations.

Businesses, hotels and restaurants, as well as markets and parks will remain closed, while public transport between provinces and within cities will stop.

The military has been mobilized to control the restrictions.

The mosques, however, will remain open. Authorities fear that the borders of places of worship may spark a confrontation in the conservative Muslim republic.

Poor Pakistan has recorded more than 850,000 infections and 18,600 deaths, but with limited tests and the removal of the health sector, many fear that the actual extent of the disease is much worse.

Pakistan has had more than 100 deaths every day in recent weeks.

Health officials have warned that hospitals are getting as close as possible and that the number of intensive care beds has increased.

International flights have been reduced and border crossings with Iran and Afghanistan have been closed, with the exception of trade.

India’s flights and crossings – as a result of a devastating plague with hundreds of thousands of new cases a day – were shut down ahead of the pandemic due to political tensions.

Since last year, Pakistan has reported nearly 18,800 deaths and more than 854,000 cases as a result of COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Doses of COVAX are reached

Pakistan, which has so far vaccinated only a fraction of its population, received 1.2 million doses of AstraZeneca on Saturday, according to a delayed global scheme to distribute COVAX vaccine to lower-income countries.

Prime Minister Faisal Sultan’s special health aide has called for people over the age of 40 to register for the shooting and the Pakistani government has said it will soon be able to expand its immunization program to other age groups.

A document issued by the Operations Center of the National Command of Pakistan stated that 1,238,400 vaccine doses had reached the first COVAX allocation, and within a few days another batch of 1,236,000 euros was expected to arrive.

As of May 6, Pakistan has delivered just over 3.32 million doses across the country, with a population of over 200 million.